Liverpool could have only 15 senior outfield players at LASK on Wednesday, with Chiesa and Endo ineligible for the Champions League and five more players injured or long-term absentees.
Liverpool could travel to LASK with only 15 senior outfield players, and Andoni Iraola’s own squad registration is part of the reason. Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo can’t play in Linz on Wednesday because neither was named in Liverpool’s 25-man Champions League list. Iraola used one of those places on the injured Hugo Ekitike instead.
Add Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai, who all picked up injuries on international duty, and the long-term absences of Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni, and that’s eight senior players missing for the Liverpool injury list against LASK. The Liverpool Echo worked out that if the injured trio don’t make it, Iraola is left with 15 senior outfielders who have played in the Premier League this season.
The one bit of relief is Ryan Gravenberch. His red card against Manchester City only applies in the Premier League, so he’s free to play in Austria before sitting out Saturday’s trip to Brentford.
The Ekitike gamble
Iraola explained the call last month, saying the club met the medical department before finalising the list and that there was “a reasonable chance that he could help us in the last two games of the group stages”. That means January. Ekitike ruptured his Achilles in April, and L’Equipe’s reported timeline has him back in training next month with Boxing Day as a possible comeback.
UEFA does offer a way out. Since last season, it has let clubs make one squad change during the league phase if an outfield player is expected to miss at least 60 days, up to matchday six. Liverpool used it last year when Arne Slot brought in Chiesa after Leoni’s ACL injury. They could do it again by taking Ekitike off the list, but that throws away the January plan.
We’d keep Ekitike on the list for now. Going a man light at LASK is uncomfortable, but it’s one game against a side that hasn’t won in four. Gakpo’s ankle is the injury to watch: Dutch journalist Rik Elfrink has said he’ll be out for “several weeks”, and if that stretches to two months, Liverpool could use the swap on him and keep Ekitike for January.
Iraola wasn’t hopeful after Sunday’s defeat by City. “Now we play four games in 10 days. So it’s going to be difficult, because now we fly to Austria in two days,” he said. “I think it’s going to be difficult to recover any of the players.” Youngsters such as Luke Chambers, James McConnell, Jayden Danns, Isaac Mabaya and Wellity Lucky are the options to fill out the bench.
What it means for FPL
Isak and Szoboszlai are both reported to be targeting a return at Brentford on Saturday. Szoboszlai (£6.9m, 28.4% owned) is flagged at 75% in the official game, while Isak and Gakpo are at 0%. If Szoboszlai makes the bench in Linz, that’s a good sign for Gameweek 7. We’ve got the full picture in our FPL GW7 injury news and on the FPL Hub.
Our LASK vs Liverpool predicted lineup has Rio Ngumoha and Lewis Koumas in the attack, and our earlier Liverpool injury news covers how the trio got hurt. Iraola speaks to the media in Austria later on Tuesday, and LASK vs Liverpool kicks off at 5.45pm UK time on Wednesday 14 October.